yes a few months ago i picked up a bright Valencia Orange BMW 1M. 740 cars brought to the US market. Mine is #374.
I will be doing a full review and photo-post about the car at a later time.
All i can say for right now is: It is the most fun car I have ever driven….the best car i have ever driven—and i’m still shocked that i own it and drive the pants off of it every single day. Worthy of all the hype and more! Live the dream, my rock and roll people!
There are very few automobiles which capture my attention, new or old, these days. My interest in automobiles has faded aside from a few select cars which i’m always chasing. i am, however, BLOWN AWAY by this car. the fact that it is a production car that looks like a concept. The fact that is totally a current car embedded with current technologies capturing the spirit of ‘new’ and ‘fresh’ without copying anything else before it. The fact that it’s the first hybrid sports car that is somewhat attainable (still expensive though…at $135k USA price). But most of all I love this car because it pushes and opens an envelope into the current times. No retro here. No celebration of the past. The BMW i8 is a celebration of the future.
If i had the money…i’d order this and drive it every day!!
Forget 0-60 times (4.4 seconds here), forget curb weight (3200+ pounds here), forget cost for a second, forget the badge, forget the insane aero design features— this car is a pioneer and a real innovation in this realm. It’s rare in these generic modern times of automotive engineering that we see a true beginning, but i have a feeling the i8 is the first of many coming in this realm.
(I don’t count cars like the Porsche 918, because of price and uber-exclusivity)
Live photos from Frankfurt (courtesy of greenCarReports)
promo photos from BMW in Black:
Videos:
The MK1 TT is quite simply the most beautiful German car design in…what…the last 50 years….since the original Porsche 911, in my humblest opinion. The 80s and early 90s were pretty dark and depressing times for German car design which entered a comfort zone of drab, unimaginative, uncreative designs (except Porsche, who were always putting together interesting cars)..and the TT put an end to those dark ages. Timeless, ageless, and pure…..and with rumours of the next-generation MK3 TT being heavily influenced by the original, the MK1 TT’s legend will continue to grow.
Here’s the original 1995 MK1 TT Concept….the automotive design equivalent of punk rock in 1995! I have turned the original manufacturer photos in B&W to fully appreciate the geometry and design pornography!
It is astounding to me that the MK1 TT Coupe that sits in my garage (for the last 10+ years) is virtually identical to this concept, barring a few select details.
I am loving the idea of this…movement in silence. There is something very epic about the sounds of silence….if one can appreciate sounds extensively, one increases their appreciation of silence.
This installation was done by BMW in relation to their “i” sub-brand.
video explaining the installation:
src: intersection (fr)
To celebrate crossing the 1 million visit mark this week, this is a monster post of some of my favourite photos and automobiles posted on IEDEI from the past couple of years. I originally started this blog to catalogue my favourite automobiles and photographs, and it is still what I do—-however along the way I have met lots of great people, shared lots of interesting stories, and have learned even more than I already knew about the world of motoring.
srcs: too many to list! each source is listed in the original IEDEI post where these pics are taken from.
Before the days of saturated bloggers filling up the press days of modern Auto Shows, we often forget that only serious journalists were really taking photos and writing up the major international auto shows. Before digital cameras, blogging, websites, etc—–these photos were mainly issued in newspapers and magazines, and hence we don’t see a lot of vintage auto show photos.
Car & Driver have posted a huge archive of Detroit Auto Show photos and they really are fantastic. They range through many years, and show how cars were displayed in a different time! Very cool. Make sure you check out the link at the bottom to look through the entire archive they have up on their site:
1926
1966
1932
1978
1975
1967
1985
1967
1965
check out the archive here: Car & Driver
2011 was a great year in motorsports—–and I personally had an epic time at Petit Le Mans this year, following one of the most heroic wins ever at Le Mans in france. But aside from those glorious events—–DTM racing, GT racing, and endurance racing supplied thrills and spills this year.
Jake Yorath takes wonderful photos—and these were shared by him to remember motorsports in 2011
A fellow Audi enthusiast Carson has launched a new petition on the Whitehouse.gov website to gather signatures to discuss making the rules to relieve the stringent rules on US automobile importation laws. Currently the US government run NHTSA does not allow importation of automobiles which have not been specifically crash tested by US standards. The catch here is that other countries, including the EU have even MORE stringent crash testing standards than the US very often—-which begs the question, why does the US have such incompatible safety testing standards as compared to the rest of the world? Even Canada has much easier rules for getting cars into the country, allowing manufacturers to be more experimental in their lineups.
Let’s take for example the tempting Audi RS3—-which was, as of a couple of months ago—–being debated by Audi of America as a possible import into the US market. Then they decided they would NOT import the car into the US market. Despite the fact that the 8p A3/RS3 body is already crash tested in the US and despite the fact that the TT-RS engine and drivetrain (same as the RS3) have met safety standards—-it was not financially feasible for Audi to bring in the RS3, as they would likely never recover the costs of having to cross all the hurdles it would take to get it on market. I even sent an email to Audi of America asking if the RS3 was coming to the US, before i ended up buying my 2012 A3 quattro—-they told me “no” so i bought my car the next day.
Will this petition work? The chances are slim—–as I think these rules mainly benefit US carmakers, and allowing more imported cars to make it over here would only cut in further to US carmaker sales. BUT HEY! it is worth a shot! 25,000 signatures needed. At time of this post, 343 achieved. I, of course, being one of the earliest.
It takes 1 minute to sign up—-so please go and sign it! We have nothing to lose—-and spread the word!
LINK: Whiteouse.gov Petition
There are several sites streaming the Nurburgring 24 Hour race, but they are all using the same live German feed—-however i am disturbed that they play awful music in the background during the race, alternating with german commentary….which is present on ALL the feeds i’ve looked at, including the official one. Those crazy germans….WHY in the world is the original broadcast playing that rubbish music!? I haven’t a clue…”Radio Nurburgring”? really?
But either way, i can’t complain—–as the full 24 hours is available for FREE online streaming.
http://tv.audi.com/portal/#/01
the title Kings of Automotive Ugly was held by Nissan until a couple of months ago, when BMW swiftly stole the crown with their horrendous string of terrible designs; the fact that they own Mini has now authorized them to spread their design gonorrhea to another unsuspecting victim; the Mini Coupe.
I have tried to understand this roof, however it is beyond my grasp. At times, it resembles a cock from a small deformed animal—-at other times, a turtle with a broken shell—-and finally, it sort of reminds me of a rabbit with a pancake on top of it (see below).
i can’t really get myself to post more photos of it—-however if you need more info on this $22k Mini Coupe, head over to BMW for more official information (login may be required).
My lovely wife bought me an iPad last weekend. It’s an amazing device—-beautiful to use and full of utility. I am currently in the process of comprehensively reviewing a monumental amount of scientific knowledge for an upcoming examination—-and the iPad is like a saint that has come to help me out. It is brilliant. That being said—-there are tons of e-magazines available for the iPad related to cars—and i downloaded a few of the ‘free’ apps namely by BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Porsche. I have to say that each one is entertaining and beautifully put together, especially for free. Apparently they will supply new issues as they are made….very cool. Here are some screencaps I took with the iPad of these 4 apps. BTW, the Mercedes application is just amazing—-it goes through their entire automotive history with photos and 2 minute audio summaries. Very cool, again.
i
Well yes, this was the debut of IEDEI at a major auto show—I must thank JoshD from Quattroworld for setting me up with my media pass. Much appreciated indeed! at IEDEI you will not get photos of ‘every car’—-instead you will just get the ones i thought were interesting!
Some observations about the cars I saw at the Auto Show today:
A) I looked at and sat in A LOT of cars today and came up with a conclusion—–I like very few of them. I tried to only really take photos of the ones I either found interesting or appealing in some way.
B) The interior quality of most cars is quite frankly woeful. When I sat inside of a Boss 302 Mustang, I was quite frankly amazed at how badly made the interiors really are of these cars. I KNOW that this is not the point of them—and yes I know that none of this matters when one is aiming for lap times and stop light drag racing. However, IEDEI looks at the whole picture for inspiration—-and if a car has such a huge glaring gap in its merit, I simply cannot be bothered to care. After the show, i got into my Audi TT, and felt relieved to be in such a nice place! Not to say there were not nice interiors at the show, there were (Mercedes, Audi, GT-R, etc…) but most were lacking.
C) Surprises of the day? I sat in a Nissan GT-R for the first time in my life—–and you know what? I absolutely LOVED it. The interior felt like a true sports car, with amazingly high quality construction, fantastic seats, and the most amazing tactile paddle shifters I have ever felt on a car—–with raw brushed metal stalks. The car felt great to sit in—and to be honest I am compelled to take one for a test drive…soon hopefully!
D) the Kia Optima felt like an Audi—honestly the quality of their interior blew me away, and I think that Peter Schreyer (ex-Audi designer) has really upped Kia’s game when it comes to quality of product. I don’t care for Hyundai much—–but when i took a seat in the Kia Optima, it felt like an interior that was twice the price of the car. Nice one, Kia.
E) the Scion FR-S—-stunning.
F) VW Beetle: dissappointing. Terribly cheap and tacky interior. Not worth the hype.
some photos:
Fiat steering wheels:
Bentley random goods!
BMW 1-series M: just looked like a ‘modded’ 135i in person; a bit dissappointing to be honest. The interior, like the 135i, felt cheap and nasty. I really do like the 1-series as a car, however I think it never quite lives up to how much I want to like it. I’m sure it will still kick ass on a track though…
BMW M3 DTM: all types of wonderful.
Audi TT-RS – naturally better looking than the 1-series M, with a much MUCH nicer interior. Spoke with Johan De Nysschen (head of Audi Of America) about options and pricing. I was told the car will be about $60k in the US when it is launched this Autumn. 340hp version coming to the US, not the 360hp “plus” version as rumoured. This is the US-spec car.
the orgasm inducing Audi R8 GT: i couldn’t really get myself to leave sitting in this. So f*cking cool it pained me to leave it—-
the stunning Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in Gulf livery? Not sure I understand Mercedes & Gulf colours on the same car—–however I wasn’t arguing, as it looked splendid, although a little bit puzzling for sure!
Mercedes A-Class Concept: beautiful design, flows very well. striking concept features like the ‘inverted mesh grille’ are very cool. Slated for the US market in 2013—-if it looks anything like this, it will be so cool to see these on the street!
Nissan GT-R: dare i say i have been developing a great appreciation for the GT-R as a technological masterpiece; today my opinion of it greatly increased after I fell in love with the interior—–it felt like i belonged there. Yes I know it’s been around for a while, but I’ve only come to understand it. Respect.
Red Bull F1 Car it still annoys me that somehow Infiniti have blagged their way onto this car (probably by begging parent company Renault, who supply the Red Bull engines)—–however man these F1 cars are something else to see in person. So much detail.
Scion FR-S: This car is UNBELIEVABLY gorgeous—-so beautiful that I found myself shocked that Toyota has designed it. It takes many cues from the Audi quattro Sport concept, as well as one of the E-tron concepts—–but holy shit if Toyota/Scion can build this and price it at $25k as a small, RWD car which is under 3000 pounds—-this car is going to be massive! (note: this car was a mock up, with no working interior—-so i’m not holding my breath about this being the production design)
Saab Phoenix Concept – This was revealed at the Geneva Auto Show a few months back——I thought it looked like utter shit in those photos i saw of it then, BUT i will say the car looks MUCH better in person—-much lower and sleeker. In fact, while I was taking these photos, another person and I were having a conversation about how this car looks like crap in the camera, but much better in person—-very strange! Even still, it is NOT a pretty design, but I will say it is interesting. Yes, the rear lights look like a 90s Firebird, as my friend from Automobiliac.com mentioned…and next to the car in this photo is the designer Jason Castriota.
Volkswagen Golf R/”R20″– really liked the interior touches for this special edition AWD continuation of the Golf R series. Looked nice and aggressive in its classic R shade of blue as well!
Porsche GT3-R Hybrid – self explanatory cool, even as a hybrid!
I found myself accidentally in front of a Shelby GTS unveiling—–but the car bored me (looks like every other bloody Shelby tuned Mustang!), and the annoying automotive journalists irritated me even more. I have to say that auto journalists kinda suck—–pushy, a little impatient, and they take way too many photos of anything with wheels….as if they will never see it again if they don’t…
I have never found much similarity in BMW and Audi’s overall designs, however I had never really looked at photos of the superb 100 Coupe S side by side with the ‘rare’ Frua design study 2002 GT4 side by side. It’s amazing to know that both of these designs first debut’d in 1969 at around the same time; however whereas BMW rejected many of Frua’s designs for their cars (however ultimately using the ideas in the Frua penned E12 5-series), Audi ended up producing a limited edition run of 100 Coupes. They may not be identical designs, however i think this may be the closest Audi and BMW ever got, and probably will ever get in terms of design studies. Personally I think they are both fantastic with their heavy Italian influences; and while the 2002 GT4 went into prototype obscurity—the 100 Coupe S maintains its popularity amongst dedicated enthusiasts.
BMW = Boring Me….oh never mind.
I like Chris Bangle. His designs ‘sunk in’ after a while, which to me is a sign of someone who properly pushed the envelope. I loved the BMW Z4 Coupe and i love the BMW 1-series, both designed by Mr. Bangle. I know that he is still involved with BMW occasionally, and is also running his own company at the moment; but what i’m amazed by is just how boring the current BMW design themes have become. Seriously…..how many versions of your E92 3-series can you make? now you’ve made a larger one, and now you’ve made a super-larger one! I honestly get confused when i see these on the road; sometimes i think the 5-series is a 3-series, sometimes i think the 5-series is a 7-series—-only the size prevents me from calling a 7 a 3 and vice versa…..the design is boring, they are utterly charmless….but most of all, they are COMPLETELY devoid of any challenge, art, or sense of passion. BMW is a bored company, and it’s showing. No wonder they’ve stretched out that last Bangle-era design (1-series) for another go as the 1-Series M Coupe—-which should be out soon….for a price of around…..$45-50k as far as i can guess.
I used to think the E60 5-series was a real ugly bastard when it first came out—-but the design grew on me, and i don’t even think it looks awkward anymore…i actually think it looks good….much better than the generic ‘new’ 5-series that just came out…
Well i bought some superb Dunhill driving gloves last year, however i lost one of them; a true tragedy in my petrolhead bubbleworld.
So about6 months ago, being the Audi fanboy i am; i ordered a pair of Audi driving gloves through the Audi Collection. I really like them. Very soft and well made. $49.00
For you BMW fanboys, BMW is selling driving gloves as well, through their BMW Lifestyle section. They look pretty good. $40.00
Porsche Design has also come out with a set of driving gloves; they are clearly the flashiest and pose-y out of the bunch…but they look pretty good. $190.00
BMW hasn’t raced in Le Mans for over 11 years, since they ran the V10 Prototype in 1999. As the cars on the lineup for the 2010 Le Mans were revealed, it appears 2 BMW E92 M3s are registered in the GT2 class!
Seeing as BMW has pulled out of Formula One, it appears they are redistributing some of their racing technology, staff, and resources into various ‘other’ forms of motorsports. Should be interesting to see how they do in the competitive GT2 class against C6 Corvettes, Porsches, and Ferraris.
Thanks to Jalopnik for the tip!
http://jalopnik.com/5467950/bmw-registers-for-le-mans-for-the-first-time-in-eleven-years
Complete list of entrants into 2010 Le Mans:
Well, at least the ENGINE portion of the game…..that’s what Autocar is saying. I’m still waiting for the day that VW enters F1 completely and uses the name Bugatti on blue F1 cars…imagine that…or maybe even Auto Union.
“The imminent expansion of the grid and the reduced costs of the sport have caught VW’s eye, and the firm is not deterred by the pullouts of Honda, BMW and Toyota in the past 12 months.”
LINK: http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/245349/
I can’t really be arsed to write about the current leakage of photos regarding the ‘NEW” BMW 5-Series…..because it’s boring.
What I do know, is that previous generations of 5-series have NOT been boring. My absolute favourites are the first 2 (E12 and E28). Thus the most exciting part of the press release is actually the photo of ALL the 5-series generations together! Good wallpaper for you cuckoo 5-series fans.
CLICK FOR HIGHER RES
After Top Gear, one of my favourite automotive shows is Wheeler Dealers. Broadcasted out of the UK (as expected), it starts Mike Brewer and his trusty mechanic Ed. They buy cars cheap, do some work on em, fix em up, and try to sell em for a proflit. They pick up some pretty great stuff. Makes me jealous of the UK used market!
In this episode, they get the rare-in-the-USA BMW E30 Touring for 900 quid!
(PARTS 1 through 5).
one of those pesky BMW Art Cars.
click foto 2 times to get hi-res
One of my favourite designs of the last 10 years…the Wiesmann GT. I wish they’d bring this beauty over to the US.
click two times on the foto to get hi-res
IEDEI 
